Please notice this was first posted in the period 2012-2014 and can be outdated
Today was the big day of the GMAT test. My alarm was set for 6:10AM, and a complete travel schedule was already waiting on my desk together with my passport and the test location details. The last thing I would want to do in the early morning is finding out I am missing some document or that I left too late and will need to hurry.
After breakfast I took a shower and headed for the train station. At the local supermarket I bought a second round of breakfast consisting mostly of caffeine (one large can of Red Bull) to get my brain into first gear. Total travel time was about 1 hour which left me with plenty of time to do some non-GMAT-related reading on the train and going through my hand written study notes.
One hour before test time I arrived at the “Compu’Train test center in Utrecht” leaving me plenty of time for a second can of Red Bull and a much needed bathroom break (that can was awfully large). Luckily it was possible to check in for the exam already, and after they took my picture, scanned my hand palm, and checked my passport I had another 45 minutes left. They explained I could start my exam already, but I choose to get my nerves down first in their lovely break room with free coffee, tea, and soft drinks.
The break room at Compu’Train in Utrecht.
About 15 minutes before the official start time I indicated that my test spirits could not rise any higher and we went to the test room. There you get a seat assigned and you just sit behind the computer doing whatever the computer asks you to do. The online test exams were a perfect copy of the real exam so I went through all the explanations without any surprises or stress.
In total it took me 3 hours and 45 minutes to complete the GMAT. I choose not to take the optional breaks because it felt like I was on a roll but I started to regret this a bit in the last part of the exam when I became tired of concentrating (or the caffeine was just gone from my body).
An unofficial test result of 680 for the GMAT
As you can see in the picture above I ended up with an unofficial total GMAT score of 680 (made with my Ipod Touch, so blame Apple for the crappy picture!) which is the 85th percentile. The analytical writing assessments (AWAs) still need to be graded but so far I am happy with the results. While my original goal was a score of 700, I lowered the bar when I found out I only had 2 weeks left to study to meet certain deadlines. And if I compare this with my test scores of the online Princeton Review tests I think I did pretty well (my online test scores were: 570 – 620 – 620 – 640).
Next goal will be to “crack the TOEFL”.